Can Benedict Farm Park become fully handicap accessible?

By Nadine Cafaro
Posted 10/11/22

Montgomery’s Benedict Farm Park is in talks to potentially become the first fully handicap accessible park in the local area.

The Montgomery Town Board visited this idea for the first time …

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Can Benedict Farm Park become fully handicap accessible?

Posted

Montgomery’s Benedict Farm Park is in talks to potentially become the first fully handicap accessible park in the local area.

The Montgomery Town Board visited this idea for the first time on Thursday, October 6. With the help of a pediatric physical therapist, Town Supervisor Brian Maher presented the idea to the rest of the board and local community. He mentioned that there’s no parks that are 100% fully handicap accessible in neighboring areas.

“We would be the epicenter of handicap accessibility in terms of our park and playground equipment,” said Maher.

The project would involve getting rid of the preexisting mulch and replacing current equipment, as well as putting in fencing. Like the size of this project, it comes with a large price tag. Maher explains the equipment alone will cost $302,008.77. On top of this, the installation would be another $100,000.

Maher mentions that between funding, private donors and some of the budget, it could be possible.

“The goal here is to couple the $100,000 in private donations with a combination of what we potentially might have in this current fiscal year’s budget for capital improvements, as well as potentially using an allotment of ARPA funds,” said Maher.

Though pricey, the idea is that it will trickle down. “It’ll bring people in from all over the area, not just the Town of Montgomery, who then hopefully will shop at our local restaurants and pump gas at local gas stations. It will stimulate our local economy.”

Maher hopes to create a plan with support from the local community in the coming months.